The media freedom representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe expressed concern over the “magnitude of violence against members of the media at the demonstrations in Kyiv” that took place on Dec. 1.
“I am especially concerned that
in most of the cases, the beatings were reportedly conducted by law enforcement
officers who attacked journalists and disregarded their press identification.
Violence against journalists cannot be tolerated”, said Dujna Mijatović, OSCE
representative on freedom of the media,
in a letter to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Ukrainian Foreign
Minister Leonid Kozhara.
Mijatović
called on “Ukrainian authorities to take urgent action to halt the violence
against media and to swiftly launch investigation into these attacks.”
The
Kyiv Post reported on Dec. 1 that more than 40 journalists were injured in
clashes with police who, eyewitnesses and victims said, indiscriminately beat
people near the Presidential Administration building, including journalists who
displayed their identification badges.
Denys Danko, an
award-winning journalist from 1+1 channel, said that when he held up his ID
badge and identified himself as a reporter to an approaching policeman, the
officer said, “I
don’t give a [expletive],” was the last thing he heard before he fell down.
A
column of riot police charged around 5 p.m. on Dec. 1 at a crowd of protestors,
some of whom had been attacked with rocks and a digger.
As the police charged, they beat everything in their path.
Danko was among several dozen people who hid in the courtyard of the Writers’
Union building on Bankova Street.
“Every officer running by me hit me with a club. I was hit
30 times all together. They kicked me in the head, chest, hands,” said Danko,
who now has seven stitches on his head.
Foreign journalists were also attacked
including employees of Euronews, Reuters, Agence
France-Presse, The Associated Press, The New York Times. According to the OSCE,
they were physically assaulted and severely injured while covering
the public protests in Kyiv.
They include, among others:
Dmitriy Larin -Ukrainskaya Pravda; Mustafa Nayyem – Hromadske.tv, Nataliya
Zhijko, Yurii Usik, Ivan Nakonechniy – 5 Kanal, Roman Kupriyanov – Euronews,
Gleb Garanich – Reuters, Sergei Supinskiy – Agence France-Presse, Sergei
Chuzavkov – The Associated Press, Joseph Sywenskyj – The New York Times, Tomasz
Piechala – Eastbook, Oleksandr Perevoznik – Liga Business Inform, Valeriya
Burlakova, Stanislav Kozlyuk – Ukrainskii Tyzhden, Max Levin – LB.ua, Johannes
Wamberg Andersen – Danish freelance journalist, Maxim Kudimets – Insider, Pawel
Pieniazek – Polish freelance journalist, Anton Chernyshov – Independent
Journalist Union, Denis Danko and Dmitriy Volkov – 1+1, Yaroslav Galata –
Demokratichna Ukraina, Mikhail Zagorskii – Zhitomir.info, Dmitriy Kachura –
Kommentarii, Yevgenii Golovatyuk – Ukrainskiye Novini, Oleg Khavruk –
Comments.ua, Sergei Dolzhenko – European Pressphoto Agency, Yevgenii Feldman –
Novaya Gazeta, Yurii Butusov – Censor.net, Emin Kalantarov – Lifenews, Sergei
Polezhaka – freelance journalist, Yevgenii Maloletka – Unian, Valeriy Kolosyuk
– Aratta.Vikno v Ukrainu, Sergei Yurchenko – Novoross.info.
Kyiv Post editor Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].
